TRANSITION COW FEED INTAKE

FEED INTAKE OF THE TRANSITION COW: THE LEADING SUCCESS METRIC

Ray Nebel, Ph.D., Research and Technical Consultant for Select Sires Inc. and CowManager®

The transition period is critical for a dairy cow. It contributes to her recovery post-calving and determines the trajectory of her lactation and next reproduction cycle. To achieve fewer fresh cow health events with less labor and veterinary costs, herds can enlist the intuitive power of CowManager. The activity monitoring system focuses on group performance by analyzing data provided by machine learning algorithms. The system creates alerts and allows dairies to intervene earlier than ever before, leading to healthier, more productive fresh cows.

Healthy cows benefit more than just the herd’s bottom line. Minimizing the effects of health challenges is also an opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions. Fresh cow diseases, such as: subclinical ketosis, metritis, mastitis, retained placenta, displaced abomasum and many others are associated with reduced milk production and a greater likelihood of culling the first 30 days in milk. It was recently reported in Hoard’s Dairyman that subclinical ketosis elevates the carbon footprint per unit of milk by 2% per case and costs approximately $117 per case. When combined with other transition diseases that often accompany ketosis, the GhG impacts are intensified. GhG emissions per gallon of milk climbs by 6.9% for cows that also develop mastitis, 3.7% for cows that also develop metritis and 6% for cows that also develop clinical ketosis.*

Nutrition module

A decline in eating and resulting rumination can be an early indicator of health issues, extra expenses and profit loss. CowManager gives in-depth insights about the well-being of both individual cows and groups of cows. The system alerts when it detects a significant decline in eating and rumination during the lactation and transition period prior to calving. The alerts for reduced feed intake, group health issues and heat stress are usually delivered to farmers 30-48 hours before any clinical signs can be noted - allowing for efficient proactive intervention. This results in better cow health and a more productive herd while significantly reducing feed, labor and medical costs for maximized profitability and longevity.

Health alerts

The health module is most known for its accuracy and timeliness. CowManager’s unique temperature monitor sends an alert if there is a drop of seven or more degrees in ear skin temperature. The skin temperature is inversely related to the core body temperature and so when the skin temperature is lower, the body temperature is elevated.

These temperature alerts offer an extra dimension to the health alerts as seen in the adjacent table. Health alerts are driven by a decrease in rumination and eating minutes combined with a decrease in overall activity. Sophisticated algorithms have been developed to classify cows into three categories: suspicious, sick and very sick. For each category, and depending on the length of time the cow has experienced the specific behaviors, the table provides farmers with a to do list as well as possible actions recommended by herd health consultants or veterinarians. Herds are always encouraged to follow the recommendation of their veterinarians.

Monitoring the transition period

The transition monitor is a section within the nutrition module and is focused on herd level assessments and comparing individual cows with the average herd performance. The period starts 50 days prior to the expected calving date and is calculated from the last breeding date. It continues until 25 days after calving. A transition alert occurs when the rumination plus eating minutes drop one (1) standard deviation below the comparison group. This group could be a specific lactation group or all lactating cows.

After reviewing 83 herds with over 1,000 cows monitored, 51-97% of the cows with a transition alert had a health alert less than 30 days in milk, including suspicious alerts. Thirty-six percent of all cows culled from the herd less than 30 days-in-milk had a transition alert and herds ranged from 11-65%.

In a field trial conducted in a 3,000-cow herd, approximately 50% of the cows that had a transition alert during the dry period and were not treated, experienced a fresh cow health alert that was confirmed by visual inspection. In contrast, fresh cow health alerts were significantly reduced when given a yeast bolus within three days of the alert appearing. In general, over conditioned cows and lame cows did not respond to treatment with a yeast bolus.

The greatest number of alerts occurred when cows were moved from the far-off to close-up group usually around 21-30 days prior to expected calving. Cows that are forced to delay their feeding time due to overcrowding may consume a poorer quality diet and these cows may be unable to maintain adequate nutrient intake. Increased feeding competition due to overstocking may reduce intake and increase feeding rate, possibly increasing the risk for metabolic problems such as displaced abomasum and subacute ruminal acidosis.

The many benefits of a well-managed transition period

We know that most transition diseases occur during the three weeks after calving, many of which are triggered at birth or prior to calving during the dry period. Sick animals eat less, resulting in less rumination and subsequently increase their risk of health challenges. CowManager identifies cows at risk due to a drop in eating and rumination one to three days before astute managers. A strategic approach to using this information can yield success for the dairy. The opportunity for high-producing dairy cows to eat whenever they want is important to maintain cow health, welfare, productivity, and ultimately profitability of the farm. Dairy producers can use health and transition alerts of animal behavior supplied by the CowManager system to improve cow welfare and performance. Learn more about CowManager by visiting www.selectsires.com/cowmanager.